


How long have you been standing there?

by Maggies_Scribblings



Series: Fluff, follies and fireworks [Tumblr requests and prompts] [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Balcony Scene, F/M, Identity Reveal, Kwami & Miraculous Lore, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Post Season 3, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Post-Reveal Pre-Relationship, Pre-Relationship, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:40:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24096724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maggies_Scribblings/pseuds/Maggies_Scribblings
Summary: Marinette is hard at work on her balcony when a nosy cat drops by…Chat Noir's curiosity might not be deadly, but it might uncover more than he ever expected!...
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Fluff, follies and fireworks [Tumblr requests and prompts] [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1687726
Comments: 40
Kudos: 293





	1. Eavesdropping

Of all the responsibilities Marinette inherited as Guardian, that cursed Grimoire was by far her biggest headache.

Well, Master Fu _did_ leave a USB drive with the scanned pages of the sacred book, _and_ a password-protected file with all the discoveries he’d made with her help: the power-up potion recipes, the story of how the Miraculous came to be, the descriptions of each jewel’s powers…

Unfortunately, his work was left incomplete by his forced retirement, leaving Marinette to painstakingly decipher almost everything Master Fu could not. However, there was still a very important part that eluded her after four years — the ritual that had to be performed in order to summon The Wish. Not because she wanted to use it, rather to be able to identify any peculiar ingredients or locations she could use to trace Hawkmoth.

The cypher on this section was even more complex than the rest: not only were the glyphs more intricate, the illustrations were so bizarre she couldn’t tell whether they were allegorical or instructional.

It was a race against Hawkmoth, who had recently cracked the code on the copy he had stolen from Master Fu. This had been evident a few months ago, when a fire-powered Mayura, together with a flaming akumatized villain, had attacked an old theatre full of people attending a concert.

Repeatedly, Hawkmoth had shown to be playing around with the power-ups, prompting Ladybug to keep a stockpile of potions so that everyone in Team Miraculous could use them in an emergency.

Approaching the subject as methodically as her chaotic life allowed, Marinette reserved her Wednesday nights to work on the Grimoire. On this beautiful evening, she decided to move the studies to her balcony, reclining on her lounge chair. At least her muscles could relax a little. Her nerves? Not so much…

“Goddamn mystical book!”

She was holding the tablet on one hand and taking notes on the notebook on her lap with the other. She’d been on this very page for weeks, with no progress.

“Aaaah!” Marinette screamed, “are you _sure_ you can’t help me, Tikki?”

“I’m sorry, Marinette,” the little god replied from her favourite flower pot. “You know us kwamis can’t know the secrets of the book.”

Another few minutes passed in silence, before Marinette let out a frustrated huff, slamming her stuff down on the reel that served as coffee-table.

“I give up! I will never break the stupid magic code on the stupid magic book.”

“Is everything okay here?” A familiar voice asked, quizzically.

Looking for the source of the voice, Marinette yelped as she spotted the unexpected visitor, perched on the wall just behind her.

“How long have you been standing there?” she asked, as she tried (and failed) to conceal her reading materials.

“I heard a scream,” Chat Noir replied evasively, “I simply wanted to check on my favourite civilian. After all, this city is _littered_ with danger!”

“Oh. I didn’t realise I was so loud.” Marinette blushed in embarrassment. “Sorry to alarm you. I was just having trouble with some homework.”

“Can I help you?” he plopped down beside her. “My wits are as sharp as my claws.”

Marinette snorted involuntarily, only to try and cover it up with a fake cough.

“No, thank you. It’s… kinda personal.”

The notebook with some of the symbols she’d copied was still visible, despite Marinette’s attempts to hide it. She watched in panic as his eyes landed on it, head tilted sideways in curiosity.

“Oh, I recognize some of those characters.” Before Marinette could swipe it from view, he picked it up.

“Hey, that’s priva— wait… you _know_ these symbols?”

“Not exactly… Why are you writing this?”

“Oh! It’s a—a…” Marinette scrambled to find an excuse. “It’s copied from an old document, from my mother’s side of the family. I don’t even know what it is.”

“They look like Thai characters, only… in an ancient form…”

“Thai? You know Thai!?”

“Oh… I’ve been there for— for work. I saw something similar to this in an old museum.”

Reluctantly, she allowed him to see the rest of her notes. She was pushing her luck, really. Then again, Chat Noir had never seen the Grimoire, had he? And who knew, maybe he could help.

He flipped through the pages, studying the copied symbols intently.

“These drawings, though... they don’t look like anything I’ve seen before… except…”

Marinette noticed the change in his countenance, from curious excitement to perplexed recognition. _“Uh-oh!”_

“Oh, never mind, then.” She forced a laugh and waved dismissively, trying to pry the notebook from his claws. “It’s probably an old recipe or something like that.”

“Where did you say you got this?” Was his voice actually trembling?

“My—my mother’s uncle— great-uncle. He’s no longer around.”

“Not around, huh?” Marinette felt the way he was studying her face. “You mean he died?”

“N—no… he— retired.” Even with the risk of discovery, she couldn’t bring herself to lie. “A—abroad.”

“Hmm…” he mumbled again, flipping the pages of the notebook until he found a particular figure. “This one certainly rings a bell.”

He showed her the pages where she had reproduced the diagram of the wish. _“Crap, I forgot I had doodled that!”_

“You’ve seen that image before?” she gulped nervously.

“Just once, briefly. In a book I borrowed from my father then lost.”

“You? Y-you borrowed then lost it?”

“Hmm-hmm. It was mysteriously returned a few days later. My father never told me who found it.”

“And this book… belonged to your father?”

“It was a present from my mother. He was very upset about me losing it.”

“Upset?” Marinette was barely able to speak coherently, the way her head was spinning.

“Yes. So upset he was— never mind.”

Chat Noir put the notes down on the table, the movement lighting up the tablet screen Marinette had forgotten to lock.

It was impossible not to see the scanned page, complete with balloon notes and the title “Miraculous Spellbook Translation — V.2.34”. Marinette smacked her own forehead. _“Why didn’t I lock the screen? Why didn’t I change the name of the file?”_

She couldn’t stop him from picking up the tablet and flipping through the pages, exact reproductions of Gabriel Agreste’s book, down to the wear marks and ragged edges.

There were a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, where it seemed like both were putting two and two together and coming up with a square.

“Whe—” his voice came out cracking, so Chat Noir cleared his throat and tried again. “Where _exactly_ did you get this, Marinette?”

“I— I told you already…”

“That great-uncle of yours… his name wouldn’t happen to be Wang Fu, would it?”

Marinette grimaced — there was no going back now.

“Y-you knew my uncle?”

“He was Master Fu to me… but of course, you know that very well, don’t you?”

Chat Noir’s frown turned into that mischievous grin he sported when he had a trick up his sleeve.

“So, would you say you can’t make _heads or tails_ of this book… Bug?”

Marinette smiled back playfully, flicking his nose in an affectionate gesture.

“I’d say we’ve only just _scratched_ the surface, Kitty. What do you say we work on it together?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Requested by[miraculous-elcie on Tumblr](https://miraculous-elcie.tumblr.com/) [(Miraculous_Elcie on AO3).](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miraculous_Elcie)**
> 
> _**Prompt:**_ Marichat | Post Season 3 | _**“How long have you been standing there?”**_


	2. Ass-Kicking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Cat is out of the proverbial bag, as is Ladybug. Their perfect synchronicity as a team bleeds over to their civilian lives, which does not go unnoticed by their best friends…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So… by popular demand ~~[a whopping nine people on Tumblr]~~ I decided to continue this one-shot. 
> 
> Originally posted on [My Tumblr.](https://maggies-scribblings.tumblr.com)

It was the first Saturday afternoon after the night they found out about their identities, and Adrien and Marinette were at the Historical Library. They were working on an ongoing History project with Alya and Nino, meeting there every weekend.

“Oh, great!” Marinette huffed, looking at her phone screen. “They just bailed.”

“Really?”

She showed him the message on her phone.

> _[Alya] Hey sweetie, sorry, we can’t make it today. Nino’s family is away and I need to help him with his French homework._

“French homework, huh?” Adrien said as he returned the phone.

“Somehow I doubt that.”

“There will probably be French involved,” he quipped, waggling his eyebrows, “but definitely not homework.”

Marinette had to cover her mouth as she snorted.

“How about we investigate that _other_ subject?” he leaned over the table and whispered conspiratorially.

The library was mostly empty, but Marinette still shushed him.

“What? Here?”

“Where else? We can check out books about ancient languages, history…”

“Hmm… I don’t know… what if someone sees us? Won’t it be suspicious?”

“We’re still working on a project, right? I know! You’re applying for fashion internships in the summer, right?” She nodded. With a playful smirk, he pointed at himself with his thumbs. “Who better to help you with a fashion presentation than your friend, the actual _haute couture_ supermodel?”

Marinette giggled softly while Adrien winked and made finger guns, in full-on Chat Noir mode. Her laughter made his heart sing.

“Okay, _actual supermodel_. Where should we begin?”

* * *

A few weeks later…

> _[Alya] Hey there gorgeous! Girls’ lunch today?_
> 
> _[Marinette] Hey Alya! No can do, project work all day._
> 
> _[Alya] Secret project again, huh?_ 😉
> 
> _[Marinette] Quit it Alya, I have to go. Raincheck?_
> 
> _[Alya] How’s Sunday?_
> 
> _[Marinette] Great! Text me in the morning. xoxo_
> 
> _[Alya] Yeah, right… I’ll drop by to wake you! xoxo_

Alya sighed as she put her phone away. Marinette had been acting weird for some time now. Ever since that day she showed up at school with dark circles under her eyes and with a silly grin on her face, which she explained away with some excuse about good news from her Chinese relatives, and staying up late on Facetime to talk to them.

After four years of BFF service, Alya could tell when she was making up stories… and yet, even when caught in a lie, there were some things Marinette just wouldn’t share. It was frustrating, but Alya was respectful of her friend’s privacy. Well, most of the time, anyway.

It was also weird that she was hanging out with Adrien so often, seeing that not so long ago she had trouble even maintaining a simple conversation with him.

“Sooo, _giiirl…_ ” Alya playfully asked, before taking a bite of her kebab. “Got anything you want to share with _meee_?... ”

“Share?” Marinette looked genuinely confused. “What about?”

“ _Uh-uh_. Don’t play innocent with me, sweetie. You thought I wouldn’t notice you and Adrien sneaking around on breaks, going to your place after school?”

Marinette’s reaction was even stranger. Instead of her usual sputtering and denial, she coolly replied they were working on a project together, refusing to add any other details. And yet, Alya couldn’t resist some gentle teasing.

“So, does this… erm… _project_ include any nookie?”

“A-Alya!” _There_ she was. Blushing, stuttering Marinette. “No-nookie? No! This is strictly professional!”

As it was, Marinette refused to discuss the project any further, except to add it had something to do with fashion and her application for summer internships with established designers Adrien knew. It was the exact same explanation Nino had heard from Adrien… almost verbatim. Her reporter's sixth sense was tingling, but she let it go. If her best friends were seeing each other in secret there probably was a good reason for it.

* * *

“Alya’s on to us.”

“ _What_!?” Chat Noir almost spit out his _palmier_. “She _knows_?”

Ladybug shook her head and corrected herself.

“No—not that! I mean she’s not buying the story about the…” she gestured air quotes, “‘fashion project’!”

“Oh. _That_.” After licking his fingers, he took another cookie from the box Ladybug had brought to patrol. One of the best perks of the job, and now much more frequent. “Nino was also acting weird about it.”

“What do you mean, acting weird?”

“He was all like, _oh, you dog, finally saw the light, took you long enough_ , whatever.”

Ladybug swallowed her juice quicker than she should, breaking into a coughing fit. Chat Noir tapped her back, which was no help at all, but made him feel like he was doing something. As the coughing stopped, the pats turned to gentle rubs.

“He did?”

“Yeah, he was so… _smarmy_ about it. Like he knew something I didn’t.”

“Huh.” Ladybug scooted away from him and went very quiet.

“Are you alright?”

“I… I just need a minute, okay?”

Adrien was confused by her reaction. Sure, things were different after that night. Since then, Ladybug seemed slightly more restrained around Chat Noir. Although he _had_ toned down his banter, she seemed more embarrassed whenever he made some flirtatious joke.

The civilian side of their lives was altogether a different story. After a few days of mutual awkwardness, working together on the grimoire brought them closer than ever.

Of course, they had been friends for a long time — well, except for that time in the beginning, when she had been so uncomfortable around him. The gum incident when they met was probably a bad start, and there had been ups and downs between them ever since. He even asked Nino if she had something against him, but he wasn’t any help.

Eventually, that bashfulness faded as they grew older. Marinette started going out with Luka, much to the joy of their mutual friends and his own inexplicable chagrin. Adrien and Kagami were also dating within the confines of their controlling, yet approving, parents. After that, whenever they hung out there was a relaxed familiarity that made her open up more, and Adrien considered her one of his best friends.

Now that he knew she had been Ladybug all along, he couldn’t help but feel the bitter twinge of regret. What would— _could_ —have happened if he knew then what he knew now?

“You really don’t know why Nino teased you?”

“No—I don’t.”

“They think we’re, you know, dating in secret.”

“What? Why? They think you’re _cheating_ on Luka?”

“No! Not cheating… Luka sorta dumped me six months ago.”

“Luka _dumped_ you?” Adrien was totally confused. How could anyone dump Marinette? “I’ll kick his ass if you want me to, Milady.”

“Nah, it’s okay,” she chuckled sadly. “It wasn’t working out anyway.”

“What happened?”

“Oh, you know. He has his music, I have all of _this_ ,” Ladybug sighed, pointing at her suit. “He wanted me to be more present, and I just couldn’t. It’s like we were always out of sync.”

“—out of sync,” Chat Noir ended the phrase with her. “I know what you mean.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it was the same with Kagami,” he admitted. “She wanted to do, you know, _couple_ things, when I was exhausted from all of this. She needed me to _be there_ for her. By the seventeenth time I ditched her during an akuma alert with a lame excuse, she was done and ended everything.”

“You still seem hurt about it.”

“I think I’m over it now,” he shrugged. “It’s been almost a year. I just couldn’t be the kind of boyfriend she needs and deserves, so…”

Ladybug was silent for some minutes. When she spoke, Chat Noir jumped a little.

“I can’t believe she dumped you,” she said indignantly. “She was so in love with you…”

“How do you know that? She’s usually so reserved.”

“Well, besides it being written all over her face when she was near you? She told me. Well, actually she told Ladybug.”

“She told you that? When?”

“Oh, it was a while ago, the last time she was Ryuko. She said you were made for each other.”

“Oh yeah, when you saved her from Heart Hunter. They were after people who were in love.”

Ladybug cringed with embarrassment, then sighed and straightened her back, psyching herself up.

“I—I need to be honest with you, Adrien… I didn’t exactly save her. I chose her that day because I was jealous.”

Chat Noir nodded, but she wouldn’t look at him.

“Jealous?” he cleared his throat. “Of… _me_?”

“Yes.” She uttered a sad chuckle, shaking her head. “I was so confused back then. _So_ tired. I liked Luka, but I was so obsessed with _Adrien-_ you, and I was trying _not_ to like _Chat-_ you. Then you and Kagami looked so happy that day… I tried to walk away, but jealousy got the best of me.” Ladybug covered her face with her hands. “I made so many stupid decisions that day. I almost ruined everything.”

Chat Noir pulled her into his lap and hugged her.

“Hey… hey… It was a tough time for _all_ of us, with Hawkmoth chasing Master Fu—”

“—and I led him straight to where Master Fu was! It was all my fault.”

“No.” He gently lifted her chin to meet her eyes. “It’s all _his_ fault. _Hawkmoth_ ’s the one who’s caused all this. Don’t you ever forget that.”

Ladybug nodded, sinking into his arms and pulling him closer.

“You can always count on me when you feel overwhelmed,” Chat Noir whispered, kissing her forehead. “Or if you need me to kick some ass.” He felt her chuckling softly into his shoulder. “Now you _always_ know how to find me. Any time, day or night, okay?”

“Okay.”

“And we’ll talk about that _other_ thing another day. I’m still annoyed with our so-called best friends and their teasing.”

“Okay.” This time there was a hint of laughter in her voice. “Please don't kick _their_ asses.”

“Maybe I will, maybe I won’t… Now, let’s clear this up so I can take you home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Requested by[Alexseanchai on Tumblr](https://alexseanchai.tumblr.com/) [(AlexSeanchai on AO3).](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexSeanchai)**
> 
> **_Prompt:_** Ladynoir | Post-Reveal Pre-Relationship | **_“I’ll kick his ass if you want me to.”_**
> 
> To be continued? Let me know! If you enjoyed this, please comment (keysmashes and emoticons welcome) or subscribe or bookmark!
> 
> Thanks to [Mostlovedgirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mostlovedgirl), [Zenmisery](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zenmisery) and [Nomolosk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nomolosk) for the beta read. ❤️

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated.  
> English is not my first language and I tend to use UK English. If you catch any inconsistencies please let me know.  
> [My Tumblr.](https://maggies-scribblings.tumblr.com)


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